IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies

Transcription

1 IT Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies

2 Content IT Infrastructure Infrastructure Components Contemporary Hardware Platform Trends Contemporary Software Platform Trends Management Issues 2

3 IT infrastructure Set of physical devices and software required to operate enterprise Set of firmwide services including: Computing platforms providing computing services Telecommunications services Data management services Application software services Physical facilities management services IT management, standards, education, research and development services Service platform perspective more accurate view of value of investments 3

4 CONNECTION BETWEEN THE FIRM, IT INFRASTRUCTURE, AND BUSINESS CAPABILITIES 4

5 Evolution of IT infrastructure General purpose mainframe & minicomputer era: 1959 to present 1958 IBM first mainframes introduced 1965 Less expensive DEC minicomputers introduced Personal computer era: 1981 to present 1981 Introduction of IBM PC Proliferation in 80s, 90s resulted in growth of personal software Client/server era: 1983 to present Desktop clients networked to servers, with processing work split between clients and servers Network may be two tiered or multitiered (N tiered) Various types of servers (network, application, Web) 5

6 STAGES IN IT INFRASTRUCTURE EVOLUTION 6

7 Evolution of IT infrastructure (cont.) Enterprise computing era: 1992 to present Move toward integrating disparate networks, applications using Internet standards and enterprise applications Cloud Computing: 2000 to present Refers to a model of computing where firms and individuals obtain computing power and software applications over the Internet or other network Fastest growing form of computing 7

8 STAGES IN IT INFRASTRUCTURE EVOLUTION (cont.) 8

9 A MULTITIERED CLIENT/SERVER NETWORK (N TIER) 9

10 Technology drivers of infrastructure evolution Moore s law and microprocessing power Computing power doubles every 18 months Nanotechnology: Shrinks size of transistors to size comparable to size of a virus Law of Mass Digital Storage The amount of data being stored each year doubles 10

11 MOORE S LAW AND MICROPROCESSOR PERFORMANCE 11

12 FALLING COST OF CHIPS 12

13 EXAMPLES OF NANOTUBES 13

14 THE COST OF STORING DATA DECLINES EXPONENTIALLY

15 Technology drivers of infrastructure evolution (cont.) Metcalfe s Law and network economics Value or power of a network grows exponentially as a function of the number of network members As network members increase, more people want to use it (demand for network access increases) 15

16 Technology drivers of infrastructure evolution (cont.) Declining communication costs and the Internet An estimated 1.5 billion people worldwide have Internet access As communication costs fall toward a very small number and approach 0, utilization of communication and computing facilities explodes 16

17 EXPONENTIAL DECLINES IN INTERNET COMMUNICATIONS COSTS 17

18 Technology drivers of infrastructure evolution (cont.) Standards and network effects Technology standards: Specifications that establish the compatibility of products and the ability to communicate in a network Unleash powerful economies of scale and result in price declines as manufacturers focus on the products built to a single standard 18

19 IT Infrastructure has 7 main components 1. Computer hardware platforms 2. Operating system platforms 3. Enterprise software applications 4. Data management and storage 5. Networking/telecommunications platforms 6. Internet platforms 7. Consulting system integration services 19

20 THE IT INFRASTRUCTURE ECOSYSTEM 20

21 Computer hardware platforms Client machines Desktop PCs, mobile devices PDAs, laptops Servers Blade servers: ultrathin computers stored in racks Mainframes: IBM mainframe equivalent to thousands of blade servers Top chip producers: AMD, Intel, IBM Top firms: IBM, HP, Dell, Sun Microsystems 21

22 Operating system platforms & Enterprise software applications Operating system platforms Operating systems Server level: 75% run Windows; 25% run Unix or Linux Client level: 90% run Microsoft Windows (XP, 2000, CE, etc.) Handheld device OS s (Android, iphone OS) Cloud computing OS s (Google s Chrome OS) Enterprise software applications Enterprise application providers: SAP and Oracle Middleware providers: BEA 22

23 Data management and storage Database software: IBM (DB2), Oracle, Microsoft (SQL Server), Sybase (Adaptive Server Enterprise), MySQL Physical data storage: EMC Corp (large scale systems), Seagate, Maxtor, Western Digital Storage area networks (SANs): Connect multiple storage devices on dedicated network 23

24 Networking/telecommunications platforms Telecommunication services Telecommunications, cable, telephone company charges for voice lines and Internet access AT&T, Verizon Network operating systems: Windows Server, Novell, Linux, Unix Network hardware providers: Cisco, Alcatel Lucent, Nortel, Juniper Networks 24

25 Internet platforms Hardware, software, management services to support company Web sites, (including Web hosting services) intranets, extranets Internet hardware server market: Dell, HP/Compaq, IBM Web development tools/suites: Microsoft (FrontPage,.NET) IBM (WebSphere) Sun (Java), independent software developers: Adobe, RealMedia 25

26 Consulting and system integration services Even large firms do not have resources for a full range of support for new, complex infrastructure Software integration: ensuring new infrastructure works with legacy systems Legacy systems: older TPS created for mainframes that would be too costly to replace or redesign Accenture, IBM Global Services, EDS, Infosys, Wipro 26

27 The emerging mobile digital platform Cell phones, smartphones (BlackBerry, iphone) Have assumed data transmission, Web surfing, e mail and IM duties Netbooks: Small, low cost lightweight notebooks optimized for wireless communication and core computing tasks Tablets (ipad) Networked e readers (Kindle) 27

28 Grid computing & Virtualization Grid computing Connects geographically remote computers into a single network to combine processing power and create virtual supercomputer Provides cost savings, speed, agility Virtualization Allows single physical resource to act as multiple resources (i.e., run multiple instances of OS) Reduces hardware and power expenditures Facilitates hardware centralization 28

29 Cloud computing On demand (utility) computing services obtained over network Infrastructure as a service Platform as a service Software as a service Cloud can be public or private Allows companies to minimize IT investments Drawbacks: Concerns of security, reliability 29

30 Green computing & Autonomic computing Green computing Practices and technologies for manufacturing, using, disposing of computing and networking hardware Autonomic computing Industry wide effort to develop systems that can configure, heal themselves when broken, and protect themselves from outside intruders Similar to self updating antivirus software; Apple and Microsoft both use automatic updates High performance, power saving processors Multi core processors 30

31 Software Linux and open source software Open source software: Produced by community of programmers, free and modifiable by user Linux: Open source software OS Software for the Web Java: Object oriented programming language Operating system, processor independent Ajax Asynchronous JavaScript and XML Allows client and server to exchange small pieces of data without requiring the page to be reloaded 31

32 Web Services Software components that exchange information using Web standards and languages XML: Extensible Markup Language More powerful and flexible than HTML Tagging allows computers to process data automatically SOAP: Simple Object Access Protocol Rules for structuring messages enabling applications to pass data and instructions WSDL: Web Services Description Language Framework for describing Web service and capabilities UDDI: Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration Directory for locating Web services 32

33 SOA: Service-oriented architecture Set of self contained services that communicate with each other to create a working software application Software developers reuse these services in other combinations to assemble other applications as needed Example: an invoice service to serve whole firm for calculating and sending printed invoices Dollar Rent A Car Uses Web services to link online booking system with Southwest Airlines Web site 33

34 HOW DOLLAR RENT A CAR USES WEB SERVICES 34

35 Software outsourcing and cloud services Three external sources for software: 1. Software packages and enterprise software 2. Software outsourcing (domestic or offshore) Domestic: Primarily for middleware, integration services, software support Offshore: Primarily for lower level maintenance, data entry, call centers, although outsourcing for new program development is increasing 35

36 Three external sources for software (cont.) 3. Cloud based software services Software as a service (SaaS) Accessed with Web browser over Internet Ranges from free or low cost services for individuals to business and enterprise software Users pay on subscription or per transaction E.g. Salesforce.com Service Level Agreements (SLAs): formal agreement with service providers 36

37 CHANGING SOURCES OF FIRM SOFTWARE 37

38 Software outsourcing and cloud services (cont.) Mashups Combinations of two or more online applications, such as combining mapping software (Google Maps) with local content Apps Small pieces of software that run on the Internet, on your computer, or on your cell phone iphone, BlackBerry, Android Generally delivered over the Internet 38

39 Dealing with platform and infrastructure change As firms shrink or grow, IT needs to be flexible and scalable Scalability: Ability to expand to serve larger numbers of users For mobile computing and cloud computing New policies and procedures for managing these new platforms Contractual agreements with firms running clouds and distributing software required 39

40 Management and governance Who controls IT infrastructure? How should IT department be organized? Centralized Central IT department makes decisions Decentralized Business unit IT departments make own decisions How are costs allocated between divisions, departments? 40

41 Making wise infrastructure investments Amount to spend on IT is complex question Rent vs. buy, outsourcing Total cost of ownership (TCO) model Analyzes direct and indirect costs Hardware, software account for only about 20% of TCO Other costs: Installation, training, support, maintenance, infrastructure, downtime, space and energy TCO can be reduced through use of cloud services, greater centralization and standardization of hardware and software resources 41

42 Competitive forces model for IT infrastructure investment 1. Market demand for firm s services 2. Firm s business strategy 3. Firm s IT strategy, infrastructure, and cost 4. Information technology assessment 5. Competitor firm services 6. Competitor firm IT infrastructure investments 42

43 COMPETITIVE FORCES MODEL FOR IT INFRASTRUCTURE 43